Taxpayer Advocate updates on IRS operations

Good news entering the 2023 tax season: The National Taxpayer Advocate, Erin Collins, has reason to be more optimistic regarding the IRS in 2024. In her Annual Report to Congress, she stated 2023 was a year of transition for the tax agency. She added: “For the first time since I began serving as the National […]

Auditing concepts: Close-up on materiality

As audit season begins for calendar-year entities, it’s important to review issues that may arise during fieldwork. One common issue is materiality. This concept is used to determine what’s important enough to be included in — and what can be omitted from — a financial statement. Here’s how materiality is determined and used during an […]

Update on Employee Retention Tax Credit

IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel updated the Senate Finance Committee on the agency’s efforts to combat fraudulent Employee Retention Tax Credit (ERTC) claims. He detailed processing changes being implemented during the claim-processing moratorium, including an effort to transcribe fields from amended paper returns to identify tough-to-find sources of ineligibility. The IRS plans to complete the digitization […]

Taxing a popular kitchen staple

The Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act of 2024

The Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act of 2024 – Wolters Kluwer https://bit.ly/42mNjEt

How secure is your tax data?

How secure is private tax data following a “historic leak of taxpayer information” over three years ago? That’s the focus of a letter sent by U.S. House Ways and Means Committee Chair Jason Smith (R-MO) to IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel. Two leaks by an IRS contractor exposed tax data of former President Donald Trump and […]

How much of my Social Security is taxable? It varies by state

How much of my Social Security is taxable? It varies by state – USA TODAY https://bit.ly/3vG3q3y

What’s the difference between a deduction and a credit?

One of the most common misunderstandings about filing an income tax return is the difference between deductions and credits. Deductions reduce the amount of a taxpayer’s income before tax is calculated. For example, on your individual return, you can either take the standard deduction or itemize deductions if it will reduce your taxable income more. […]

Congress has a deal to expand the Child Tax Credit

Congress has a deal to expand the Child Tax Credit. Here’s who would benefit. – CBS News https://bit.ly/3S19yuK

IRS reminds taxpayers about account options

Now that Jan. 29 has been announced as the start of the 2024 tax season, the IRS is reminding taxpayers about free tools that can make filing easier. It strongly encourages taxpayers to set up accounts at irs.gov/account to file, make payments, monitor the status of refunds, manage tax records and electronically sign power of […]